Crystal Cloudy
by Fenros
Summary: Our futures are never set in stone" says the proverb, but changing your destiny still isn't easy. How can you do it when odds and the world are against you? Mass series crossover. Original universe and story. Read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you so much for reading this. This is my first fanfic. Yes, it probably stinks, but please review and don't abandon me  
This is a crossover story between...pretty much any animes that I want. I may take requests for animes to put in if submitted in a review, but don't count on it.  
So far the current anime roster: Bleach, Naruto, , Lucky Star, Rurouni Kenshin, Toradora, Haruhi, Hellsing.  
Yes, there will be more, I just haven't thought of what else I can jam in here... :P  
****Oh, and Jiro and Neri are OCs so don't bother looking them up. You'll get the wrong guys.  
So please, try to bear with me, and enjoy the story.  
Disclaimers: Jiro and Eri are mine,mine,mine! All the animes listed above are not...pity**

* * *

Her breath was heavy. Sweat glistened from her forehead. Her body told her to stop. Her muscles were aching. She wanted to stop, but she knew what she had to. The sounds of vicious dogs filled her ears. _Faster!_ Desperation pushed her body past its limits. _Gotta get away! Now!_ Panic clouded her mind. She did not know why she was running, but she knew what would happen when she stopped. A tuft of silver hair got in her face. Brushing it aside, she gazed upon the city looming in the distance, a circus tent adjacent to it. _There._ She thought; a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes. _I can lose them there._ Then she ran even faster now, and slowly the howl of the dogs and shouts of her pursuers became fainter. Softer, but never gone.

* * *

Bright lights flooded the room. The people sat in their seats, their legs shaking in anticipation. The ring in the middle was completely empty. In its middle was a tall support mast holding up the green and white striped curtain. The tightrope cast a thin shadow, evenly dividing the ring into two pieces. On one side of the ring there is a giant rainbow colored ball. On the other, a series of blocks stood stacked upon each other. Two entryways stood at opposite ends of the tent. The customer's entrance was still flooding with people. All empty seats were filled. The crowd began to quiet as the sound of wood clicking against the ground begins to fill the room.

The curtain to the performer's entrance opens. A man walks out. His body is shrouded in a black cloak. His face is shadowed by a green striped hat, further hidden by the open fan in front of his face. His wooden shoes softly knock against the ground while he walks. Coming to a stop in the center of the ring, he snapped his fan shut. He picked up the microphone on the ground.

"Welcome Folks!" He yelled into the microphone, a smile brightening his face. "Glad y'all made it today! I am Kisuke Urahara, your humble ringmaster today. It is with great pride that I welcome you to Artenia's biggest, most amazing traveling circus!" Throwing his hands into the air, as he finished the sentence, Urahara grinned from ear to ear as the crowd cheered their hearts out. He coughed into his microphone and all fell quiet. "Now get ready folks. Today you will encounter the most amazing acts that you will ever observe in your entire lives! Just a word of caution though, these people are trained professionals so don't try anything you see here at home. And none of the actors were harmed during the making of this show…well no more than necessary." The audience laughed as Urahara whipped out his arm in the direction of the entryway. "Now get ready for our first act! She's tough, she's crazy, she's wild, and she's…four feet tall? Give it up for our favorite little trickster, Konata Izumi!"

Right on cue, a blue blur rocketed out of entry gate. It flew to the support pillar in the middle of the ring. Bouncing away, it soared straight to the top of the pole supporting the tight rope. Stopping for a second, the acrobat jumped off the pole. The crowd stared in awe as she flipped over twice before ending in a handstand on top of the ball. She flipped over one last time and sat down on top of the ball and waited for the audience's huge applause to subside.

The girl smiled a small catlike smile. She pushed some blue hair out of her face. _Urahara always gets my introduction wrong_, she thought to herself, _I'm four feet seven inches! I grew since the last time I checked my height. A whole three inches to be exact. Take that Hat and Clogs!_ Konata smiled, beaming with pride. _Sure, I look way younger than most 17 year olds, but it has its perks too, I guess. After all, the book stores still give me the children's discount because they think I'm a kid…But is that a good thing?_

Konata brought her hand up to her face to hide her laughter. Her skin was tan, a single black beauty mark underneath her left eye. Her green eyes sparkled with enjoyment through their natural sleepy look. Her blue hair, which standing up almost reached her ankles, was currently tied into a ponytail. Her clothes were interesting to say the least, but modest. She was wearing a patched shirt and had on a pair of blue denim shorts. On her left arm was a red arm warmer, bearing the word "Chief", tied carefully over her forearm. Her shirt seemed to bear the scars of being worn far too many times, and being torn apart just as many. It was a patchwork of cloth from different colored clothing. The patterns were random, but in the middle of the shirt was a huge rainbow colored star. Konata made this in her free time from scraps of cloths the rest of the circus staff threw away. She did this so she wouldn't have to buy clothes and could use her salary to buy her favorite comic books. As she would say, it was more "economical".

She stood her full four feet seven inches on top of the ball, and then flipped backwards. A pair of wooden swords, thrown by Urahara as he stood in the shadow of the entrance, flew through the air. He watched Konata effortlessly snatch the swords out of the air before landing in a crouching position. He whispered a soft "go". The shadows to his left shot forward towards Konata. It slowed down, slowly coming into focus, revealing its true form. It was a relatively tall person wearing complete black. A black scarf covered his face, stopping just before his dark yellow eyes. His black hair was unruly, the bangs brushing in front of his face, the back and middle sticking up, giving him an appearance of having just woken up. The audience gasped as he swung a wooden sword at Konata's head. The smile never leaving her face, she brought up both swords and blocked the strike. The audience felt a wave of air wash over them; forced out by the swords connecting at a high speed.

Konata smiled evilly as she pushed upwards with both of her swords. The boy was thrown backwards as his sword flew into the air. Viciously grinning, Konata released her secret technique. "Secret Strike! Heritage crusher!" she yelled as she brought her leg up in a powerful kick. The boy snapped into focus as he quickly brought his leg up, his thigh intercepting the foot bound for his groin. Pivoting on his feet as soon as they touched the floor, he launched himself at Konata, unleashing a strong punch with his right fist. Konata dodged to the left as the arm barely grazed her. For a split second she was face to face with the boy. He hissed, "We agreed! No cheap shots!"

Konata snickered. "You agreed. Did I ever say I did?" She laughed as she grabbed his arm with both her hands and tried to flip him. One step ahead of her, the boy twisted as she threw him. His hand grabbed onto hers as he landed on his feet. Using the momentum from Konata's throw, he lifted her off the ground. Konata yelped as she was picked up and spun around in a circle. The boy grunted, then threw her with all his strength at the center pillar.

The crowd held their breath as Konata flew towards the pillar. The smile never left her face as she flipped over, hitting the pillar with both feet. _I never thought I'd be thrown Mario style. Touche_. She thought. Immediately she lowered her head as her wooden swords flew straight at her. She felt them graze her head and saw a single strand of blue hair fall in front of her face. _Crud. I forgot I left those._ Immediately she threw her hands up and grabbed hold of the swords which had firmly embedded themselves in the pillar. She quickly pulled them out and swung downwards to block a sword swing from the boy, who had jumped after her prior to throwing the swords. The force of the blow shattered all three of the swords as the two began to fall to the ground. Looking down at the ground, which was rising surprisingly fast at him, the boy realized he hadn't planned out what he would do next. Konata was enjoying herself too much to notice. She grabbed onto the boy, quickly flipping them both over so their heads were facing the ground. The boy started to fight back, his hands grabbing onto her and pulling them both upright. The two began to struggle in midair, both trying to gain leverage upon their opponent. Konata began to gain the upper hand, until she noticed they were about to hit the ground. _Uh oh._ She thought right as they both hit the ground.

A huge cloud of dust erupted in the ring. The audience gasped, wondering what had happened to the young performers. The dust soon began to settle. They could make out a figure standing, but they couldn't tell who it was. As the dust settled, the audience began to cheer. The boy had removed his scarf, a wide smile spreading across his face. Sitting atop his shoulders was Konata who was cheering and frantically waving her hands at the crowd. They stood there, basking in the audience's praises. Urahara walked up and raised the boy's hand. "And that's what you call a fabulous performance!" He yelled into the microphone. "A glorious, and outright destructive, battle between the best of friends! Give it up for the performers! Konata Izumi!" Konata jumped off the boy's back and landed on the ground. She bowed her head to the crowd. "And Jiro Katarna!" Jiro smiled as he waved to the crowd. "Now get ready for our next act!" Urahara smiled, watching the crowd swoon as he, Konata and Jiro walked back to the entrance. "Oh." He said to Jiro and Konata. "When did you stage that fight anyway?" Jiro and Konata looked at each other, a puzzled look on both their faces. They both turned to Urahara. "What do you mean staged?" They asked in unison.

* * *

Finally, the circus was empty. The crowd had gone home, the lights turned out. Konata and Jiro sighed, looking at the now empty circus tent. "Fun, huh Kona-chan?" Jiro asked the blue haired girl sitting next to him.

She looked up from her comic book. "Yup. You're a really good actor you know. Unless that first swing of yours was for real?" She pouted. "You weren't trying to hurt me were you? Little old me…" She tried to purr like a cat. Jiro thought it came out more like a broken fusion motor.

Jiro smirked. "It was only as real as that kick to my jewels." He glared at her.

"Naturally." Konata said, putting on her cutest puppy dog face. They laughed. Konata smiled. "You wanna go to the city now? I heard there's a good bookstore there."

Jiro's face brightened when she said "bookstore". "Deal, let's roll." He said, grabbing onto her hand and dragging her to the city.

* * *

Konata and Jiro were walking through the market, marveling at all the bright expensive gizmos that they could never hope to buy.

"How much does this cost Jiro?" Konata asked innocently.

"More than I can pay for Kona-chan. Keep moving." Jiro said as he pushed her to the next stand. Jiro tugged at the little wallet hanging off his pants. _I wonder if I should buy something for Konata_. Jiro began to look at the short otaku walking along side him. She was wearing the same sewn together outfit she wore at the beginning of the show; Konata also believed in saving her energy for more important things, such as comic books, instead of gathering fabric for her hand-made attire. Which was why she only had two sets of pants and shirts. Jiro sighed to himself. Even though he shared her love of comic books, he knew the necessity of new _non-_torn up clothing.

Jiro continued to watch Konata as she glued herself to a figure on display. She was his best friend in the entire world, and he knew that Konata felt the same. They had basically grown up together as a brother and sister in the Urahara circus. Neither of them knew their parents or had any siblings, so they became each other's little family along with the rest of the circus crew. They both were highly laid back or lazy as Urahara put it, but Jiro acted like the older sibling when necessary, even though they were the same age. Jiro smiled as she slipped into Otaku mode. He could never keep up, but he enjoyed listening to her. _If only she made some more sense when she ranted_. Jiro thought to himself. A hand frantically waving in his face snapped him out of his daydreaming.

"Yo! Jiro! I'm in the middle of an otaku rant! You gotta pay attention to these things!" Konata smiled a cat-like grin. "Unless… you were too busy gawking at me to listen." Konata snickered.

Jiro smirked. "Yeah, I've totally fallen for your flat chest." Konata punched him in the arm.

"See, you admitted it. You perverted lolicon." She teased, a huge catlike smile on her face.

"You wish. And don't use otaku words I don't understand." He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Oooohhh… Jiro's bullying me! What is a sweet innocent girl supposed to do in this situation?" She laughed. "So, where do you want to go next? There's a new manga volume on sale. Come on, I wanna buy it!"

Jiro sighed. "By 'I wanna buy it' you mean you're going to make me pay for it again."

"But of course." Konata was sticking her tongue out at her.

"Why do I always have to be the one to pay?" Jiro scratched his head as he reached for his wallet.

"Because you never say no. Now come on! Let's go!" Jiro groaned as Konata dragged him to the bookstore.

The walked to the bookstore, talking and laughing the entire way. They were so engrossed in the conversation that they didn't notice the frantic footsteps coming from behind them. Suddenly a girl slammed into Jiro's back. They fell to the ground. The girl mumbled an "I'm sorry" and proceeded to run away. Konata watched the girl run away. She was relatively tall, a giant compared to Konata. Her short silver hair was bouncing; her bangs fluttering in front of her eyes. Her black skirt and shirt were ripped from the fall. _She's kinda cute._ Konata thought. _I'm actually jealous. It's not fair, why does every girl but me get a set of melons. It's not fair!_ She actually laughed at her own complaints.

Konata scratched her head. "I wonder what that was about. What do you think Ji…" She looked down to see Jiro lying unconscious on the floor. Konata squeaked and rushed to Jiro. She was frantically trying to wake him up."Jiro! Come on, she didn't look that heavy! Get up! You'll still have to buy me the book even if you're knocked out! Come on you lazy perverted…" Jiro shot up, his head connecting directly with Konata's. They cursed as they stood up.

"Geez" Jiro said as he dusted himself up. "What was that about?"

"Maybe we triggered a flag?" Konata tried to add in helpfully.

Jiro shrugged his shoulders as his hands drifted down to his pockets. He started to pat his pants and began to turn around frantically. Konata looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Ummm, something wrong Jiro?" Jiro cursed as he ran off in the direction the girl ran. "Jiro! Where ya going?" Jiro turned his head and began to spout swear words as he ran. Konata barely caught the "my wallet's gone", hidden in the swear words.

Konata stood there wondering what happened, then pouted as the realization hit her. _He's just using this as an excuse not to buy my manga!! Sneaky little…_ Konata was snapped out of her fury as somebody tapped her on the shoulder. She yelped as she turned around. There was a legion of soldiers standing behind her. Dogs were howling, clawing at their chains; the expressions on their faces mirrored their owners. The leader, by Konata's guess a captain, walked up to her holding a piece of paper. "'Scuse me miss. Have you seen this girl?" The paper was a wanted poster. It read: _Wanted Neriria Nachi Bounty: To be decided upon her capture. Minimum $1,000,000,000,000,000 Wanted for: Confidential. Dead or alive._ Konata looked up at the soldiers. They tried for a menacing appearance, but Konata sensed something beneath that. Fear? "What's she wanted for?" Konata asked.

"None of your concern young lady. Now, where did she go?" The soldier's hand rested uneasily on his sword, twitching irritably.

Konata took a deep breath, trying not to shudder. "S-s-s-s-she went that way!" She shouted pointing to her left.

"Oy! I found part of a dress over here! Matches the one in the picture!" Another soldier yelled from behind Konata. Konata froze.

"Were you lying to us young miss?" The captain asked as he began to draw his sword.

"Well… You see. It's a funny story." She smiled a catlike smile and bolted down the alley that Jiro had just run through. "After her!" The lead soldier yelled and they chased after her. A scream erupted ahead of them. "JIIROO!!!!!!!"

* * *

**Curtains up, lights on, please welcome your host... The...author?**

**Author: Welcome everybody, wow, great to be here!**

**Konata:Ummm, where the heck are we?**

**Author: Oh, right, right explanation. Welcome to our little corner, specially designed to clarify, classify, and pretty much waste time.**

**Neri: So basically you're wasting time and trying to clean up your mistakes in the chapter.**

**Author:...**

**Konata: Aren't you worried about him lowering your appearances if you piss him off?**

**Neri: Please, I'm a main character. I'm not afraid of him!**

**Jiro: You know we can kill main characters off you know.**

**Neri:...**

**Author:*cough cough* Yeah... and we'll be answering any questions the viewers have for me or you guys!**

**Konata: So be sure to review or the author will start crying!**

**Author: That's righ....Hey!**

**All: Ja-nee!!**

**Jiro: I didn't get to talk much...**

**Konata: Don't worry, there's the next chapter's corner....assuming the author doesn't get booed off stage.**

**Author: I heard that!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes, I am still alive, thank you for asking.  
I am so sorry for the slow upload. I just had alot of stuff on my plate: Finals, SATS, Speeches, having my wisdom teeth removed!  
Mind you all these happened one after the other leaving me no time to write.  
Okay okay, enough excuses.  
For those who had to wait, I am sorry and I will try to update more regularly, just don't expect it to happen every week, because I can be very lazy, err pre-occupied.  
****One other thing, I have to acknowledge it right now.  
This is more of an original work than an actual crossover, so if you're expecting these guys to be shinigami and bankai and whatnot, sorry.  
Still, I hope you guys can find it in your hearts to keep reading.****  
Anyway, have fun and enjoy! **

* * *

She leaned against a wall of the alley, gasping for breath. She couldn't deny the fact any longer; she was tired. Slowly, her breath returned to her. She tried center her thoughts. Reaching back, she searched for the reason she was running in the first place. Minutes slowly oozed by. After what seemed an eternity of silence, she slammed her fist against the wall. "Dammit! Why can't I remember anything?!" Immediately she covered her mouth with her hand. She cupped her ears, listening for the sound of armor clicking against the ground. There was silence. The baying of dogs were gone, the frustrated cries of her pursuers gone. She was, for the first time she could remember, alone. She screamed in frustration. She let out all her anger and tension in one loud scream. When she finished, she slumped to the ground, and proceeded to cry. She cried for what seemed like an eternity. She could not understand why, but it made her feel better.

She kept crying until she heard the sound of footsteps. They seemed to be rushing and seething with anger. She turned as the footsteps grew louder. Suddenly she was laying face-up on the ground. A boy had tackled her onto the ground. His hands were on her shoulders, pinning her to the floor. His knees were pressed against her stomach, forcing her out of her mouth. She looked up at him. His face was a pale white that contrasted with his jet black hair. Sweat pored over his forehead, caused by his recent run. His eyes were angry, but devoid of blood thirst. "Now." He said with difficulty due to lack of breath. "I…finally..caught…you." Her breath caught in her throat. Her mind was cloudy, a mix of fear and confusion. _I'm going to die_. She panicked. _He's going to kill me…_ She screamed "No! I'm too young for this! Don't!" The boy jumped backwards, hitting his head on the wall. Obvious shock lined his face.

* * *

Jiro cursed as he grasped his throbbing head. _Owwww… Note to self, head plus wall equals pain. Hurts like… wait is she okay?_ Jiro looked up to see the girl shivering in fear on the ground. _What's with her? All I did was trip on a rock. It's not like I…_ Jiro's face deadpanned as he remembered the position he was just in. The girl's exclamation rang through his head. _I'm too young for this!_ He blushed as he rushed to help her up. "S-s-s-s-sorry!" He began to stammer. "I didn't mean anything like that! I swear, it was an accident. See I was running when I tripped on a rock. I swear it wasn't anything perverted! Really I do!" The girl stared at the boy. Slowly her face turned a bright shade of red. She raised her hand, curled it into a fist and smashed it into Jiro's face.

"Don't say stuff like that! You pervert!" the girl screamed.

"What did you call me you jerk?! You're the one who took my wallet!" Jiro replied, rubbing the new bruise on his face.

"What do you mean I took your…" the girl looked down at her dress. "Wallet…" She stared at the chain snagged onto her dress. Dangling from the chain was modest brown wallet. The girl blushed again and ripped the chain off her dress. "Sorry!" she exclaimed as she handed him the wallet. "I didn't mean to do that!" She looked at the deadpanned expression on his face. "You're going to turn me into the guards now… aren't you?" she asked defeated.

The boy gave her a soft smile and laughed."Don't worry about the police. You gave me back the wallet, so there's no problem. Right?"

A wide smile spread over the girl's face. "Wow…Thank you. Um, Let's forget about that whole pervert thing earlier, okay? My name's Neri."

"I'm Jiro. And speaking of earlier, why were you running anyway?" Neri froze. "Eh, what's wrong?" Jiro turned and looked to the spot where Neri had her eyes glued to. He saw a blue haired girl running towards them.

"Wait, that's my friend Konata." He cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled. "Kona-chan! What's the rush?" His eyes widened as he saw why Konata was running. Or rather, whom she was running from. "Holy Crud!" Jiro yelled. Behind Konata was a legion of soldiers. The collective shine of their armor was blinding. Their swords were drawn; ready to slice into anything, or anyone, who mistakenly walked into their path. Jiro reacted without thinking. He scooped up the still dazed Neri and ran, carrying her bridal style as an exhausted Konata caught up to him.

"Yo!" She greeted him with a smile. "Seems… You've… Got… A cute…. Girl… There…" She said between gasping breaths.

"Shut up! What did you do to piss these guys off?" Jiro said. Looking back, he saw how close they were getting. "Why do they want to kill us?" Konata pointed at Neri who was beginning to regain her senses.

"Heh? What do you mean it's my fault you midget…" Neri began to counter, when the realization hit her. "Ohhhh yeahhhh….. I remember now. For some reason I'm wanted. Don't know why though." She shrugged her shoulders. Jiro resisted the urge to throw her into the mass of soldiers.

"What do you mean you don't know why you're wanted!" He yelled at her. "How the heck can you not notice an army of soldiers trying to kill you!?!"

Neri put her finger to her lips. She sighed as if she were in deep thought. She raised her finger triumphantly after a pause. "I did notice the soldiers trying to kill me. I just didn't know why they were trying to kill me. Do I look like a mind reader to you?" She smirked triumphantly as veins began to pop out of Jiro's head.

"Guys!" Konata yelled over their bickering. "Save your lover's quarrel for the bedroom. They're gaining on us!"

Jiro and Neri snapped their heads in Konata's direction. "We are not lovers!"

Before the two of them could finish giving Konata a piece of their minds, a shout yelled out from behind them. "Halt! You are under arrest!" The soldier captain shouted. "The more you run, the worse your sentence will be." Jiro swore he could hear a tone of amusement in the soldier's voice. Dismissing it as his imagination, he increased his speed and dashed through the alley. Jiro and Konata maneuvered through the alley with the skill of seasoned pros. The years at the circus have given them the speed, agility and reflexes needed to be master thieves. Not that they would ever steal anything other than Urahara's hat of course.

Jiro and Konata slowed as the gap between them and the soldiers widened, to the point where the sound of clinking armor was merely a faint whisper in the breeze. Konata breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the bright end of the alleyway with a relieved smile. The smile slowly fading into a gape of disbelief as a huge line of soldiers came into view. Konata looked up at Jiro, whose face was also agape with shock. Konata noticed a hole in the wall to the left of them. It lead to a separate alleyway. She grabbed Jiro's arm and dragged the three of them down the alleyway before the soldiers noticed them. Neri let out an involuntary squeal as they squeezed into their hiding spot. Then, they were silent as the sound of clinking armor approached them.

* * *

The soldier commander was having a hard time breathing. The weight of the armor was crushing him. He made a mental note to slap the idiot who designed it. The inside insulated the heat, making it hotter than he could bear. He shot envious glances at the soldiers running beside him. Unlike him, their uniforms consisted of lightweight chainmail, and not the heavy, glaring armor that a commander was expected to suffer in without complaint. He was allowed to stop and catch his breath as he rendezvoused with the soldiers stationed at the other end of the alleyway.

"What's… you're…status…men?" He said in between gasps. He was obviously having a hard time keeping up with his target, but they were smart enough to not say anything. Instead, they merely shook their heads.

"W-we didn't see anybody come down this way." A young recruit said while stepping forward. "You're battalion was the first thing we've seen all day."

The commander stood dumbfounded. He desperately looked around for a way the children could escape, when he noticed the entrance to the other alleyway in the wall. He cursed in his head as he faced the young soldier who had answered him before. "Now… before you came here, did you thoroughly explore the area? Because there is a blatantly large alternate path that they could have easily escaped into!" The boy was completely unfazed by the commander's reddening face.

"N-no sir. We weren't able to check the other way." The boy started to seem distressed.

"In the name of the almighty goddess, why not!"

"O-orders, sir. We were told to wait at the exit." The soldier gulped. "And we were not move from our position."

"Who is the moron who gave you those blasted orders!"

"Uh…you are sir." The rest of the soldiers stifled laughter at how a rookie had made a complete utter fool out of their commander. The commander, however, was not in a laughing mood. He cupped his face in his hands, and let out a yell of frustration. Regaining his composure, the commander ignored them as he stomped down the alleyway. He growled as he looked around. The alleyway led to a dead end, with the walls being too smooth to climb. The alley was empty, save for a large hole in the wall and a cardboard box. The hole appeared to be relatively fresh, the wall still crumbling as a result of what appeared to be an explosion. The hole appeared to not stretch all the way through the wall though, as there was no light filtering in from the room that lied beyond the wall. He smirked as he thrust his sword into the gap, expecting to hear the satisfying sound of his blade piercing their bodies as they screamed for mercy. What he got instead was an explosion directly in his face. He fell back and laid on the ground, defeated.

The other soldiers immediately scrambled to the hole, where they found two hollow half circles. They fit together perfectly, creating a small hollow ball. The ball smelled like gun powder and had a cartoon-like cat drawn on the surface. Its tongue was sticking out. The dialogue bubble hovered over its head read, "Nya, Good luck next time suckers!" The soldiers looked now at what used to be the back wall of the hole. The paper covering the exit had been blown apart in the explosion from the bomb. The soldiers immediately clambered through the hole in active pursuit.

Within the mass of movement, the soldiers completely neglected to bring the commander. He sat up, and upon realizing he was now alone he began to calmly swear his head off. _How dare those imbeciles! They will pay!_ The captain thought in his head as he began to thrash his arms. Letting loose a guttural roar, he swung his foot right into the cardboard box. The box flew through the air, revealing its carefully hidden contents.

* * *

Jiro face palmed as the commander stared at them, his mouth widely agape with disbelief. _Konata, next time I pick the hiding spot._ Jiro thought as he jumped to his feet. A pissed off Neri followed suit. Konata jumped over and planted her feet on top of Jiro's head. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out several marble shaped objects. She tackled the commander to the ground. She shoved her hand down his armor and dropped the bombs inside his chest cavity. She stomped on the breastplate and ran away. Jiro followed her after watching the commander writhe on the ground in pain for several minutes. The bombs had been detonated when Konata kicked his armor. The miniature grenades were exploding randomly in a morbid fireworks show, the blasts completely contained in the explosion proof armor.

Jiro caught up to Konata. "Did you just shove home-made explosives down that man's shirt?!" Jiro yelled at Konata who simply stuck her tongue out at him.

"Don't worry, those ones were all flash and no bang." She put her fingers in a "V" shape. "He'll only get slightly burned, assuming that I didn't actually use the explosive ones."

"You do keep the two types in different pockets, right chibi?" Neri nervously responded. Her jaw dropped when Konata let out a sheepish laugh and scratched her head.

"Eh… You only need one lung to survive, right Jiro?" Konata asked in her cutest voice.

"I'm not going to answer that." Jiro sighed as he remembered when Konata had first tried making her own bombs several years earlier. The burn marks on his back were still healing from then. "Come on. Let's lose them while we have the chance."

Neri scratched her head. "Eh, where're we going?"

"We're going to introduce you to our boss."

Konata nodded. "Yeah. You see, unlike us he may actually know what to do." She giggled as the three of them ran towards the circus at full speed.

* * *

Urahara scratched his head. He had a searing headache. He was right in the middle of his post-performance nap, when Shiraishi burst into his tent screaming, "Jiro and Konata brought home a girl!" After soundly thrashing him for forgetting to knock, Urahara yawned and prepared to deal with any complaints, repair bills and lawsuits the duo usually attracted. He completely did not expect the girl to bow down and ask him for permission to stay there. He certainly couldn't foretell the fact that she was wanted. He wasn't surprised that Jiro and Konata had destroyed public property and wounded an army captain, seeing this as more habitual than not. Looking at the trio asking him to bail them out, he knew that it was serious this time. He really needed to finish his nap.

"Okay, so you guys're telling me that the little miss in the middle is a fugitive who is wanted for reasons that even she doesn't know. Jiro chased after her to retrieve a wallet she didn't even intentionally steal. And Konata not only pissed off the soldiers, but sent them on a wild goose chase, then dropped all her firecrackers into the armor of the commander, kicked him and watched as they exploded. Now you're asking me to bail the three of you out and let you bring her along too. Is that about right?" Urahara asked, tapping his cane against his foot in a slow rhythm. Jiro and Konata looked at each other. The turned to face Urahara and began to vigorously nod their heads. Urahara took a deep breath. Neri braced herself for the yelling that was about to occur. Urahara planted the tip of his cane on the floor and looked at the trio. "Okay. Why not?"

Neri fell over in disbelief. "What!?" She yelled as she sat back up. "You're just gonna let us off that easily?" Her mouth dropped open as Urahara nodded.

"Well, judging from the situation, you guys weren't at fault. Jiro was simply trying to retrieve his wallet. Konata was defending her friends. You do not even know what you did wrong, so how can you be at fault?" Neri's face was incredulous.

"B-b-but I could be lying! We could have all lied! How can you trust us so openly!"

Urahara merely smiled. "If you were lying, you probably wouldn't be making such a big deal about this. And at any rate, Konata and Jiro always tell the truth about their little escapades. They've done far worse things in the past, so even if I didn't trust you, I trust them. Not that I don't believe your story Miss Neri, because I honestly do." He stood up and patted the confused Neri on the head. "Now, I'll be right back after I deal with our visitors outside."

Urahara walked outside of the tent, where Jiro and Konata could see a battalion of soldiers lined outside. Unlike the group they had outran before, this one seemed more than triple that, easily numbering over a hundred. _Why are they going all out just to get Neri?_ Jiro thought to himself. _What could she have possibly done to attract this much attention._ Jiro's thoughts were interrupted by a sword thrown at his face. He caught it right before it hit him. He looked up at Shiraishi who had thrown the sword to him. He tossed the other two swords he was holding to Konata. "What are these for?" Jiro asked with confusion.

"I have a very bad feeling about these guys Jiro-kun." Shiraishi said. "They seem to be roughing Urahara-sama up." Shiraishi pointed at the commander. Jiro, Neri and Konata snuck out of the tent and hid themselves within earshot of the discussion.

The commander's face was blackened, his hair burnt and still smoking. Konata tried to stifle her laughter as Jiro smacked her. The commander was holding a wanted poster and shoving it in Urahara's face. He was yelling at Urahara. "What do you mean diplomatic immunity! She is a wanted criminal! She has no diplomatic immunity!"

Urahara cleared his throat and spoke in a voice that was firm, yet bored. "By diplomatic immunity, I am referring to my circus. The empire has granted my circus troop full immunity to all the laws your empire can think of. The three children you are looking for are part of this troop, meaning they are also immune. Do you copy that sir? Or must I repeat that a bit slower for you?" Urahara finished with a wide smile.

The commander was not impressed. His face turned red as his temper grew. Urahara laughed softly to himself. The commander heard his laughter, and reached for his sword. Urahara stopped laughing when he found himself facing face to face with the blade. His hat fell to the ground. It was split in two, directly down the middle. "Don't screw with me." The commander said through clenched teeth. "This is not a request, it is an order. Hand over those children."

Urahara completely disregarded the commander and stooped to the ground. He picked up the remains of his hat and sighed. "That wasn't very nice." He said in a sad voice. "I do believe you killed my hat."

Urahara watched as the proverbial straw broke the agitated camel's back. The commander let out a guttural roar as he raised his sword and brought it down hard towards Urahara's head. Urahara watched as the silver blade cut through the air, leading down to his forehead. He gripped the handle of his cane in anticipation of the strike. The blade was inches away from his head, when Urahara saw a blue blur pass before his eyes. It struck the commander in the face with a wooden sword. At the same time a black blur dashed into the commander's legs. The commander let out a yell as he fell onto his back. He let out a strangled cough as a wooden sword was pinned against his throat. He looked up to see the figure in black pointing a sword directly in his face.

"Don't even think about laying a hand on Urahara…" Jiro growled out.

"Or we'll kill you." Konata finished, pressing harder against the commander's throat.

"K-kill….them!" The commander squeezed through his limited breath. Jiro and Konata jumped back and helped Urahara to his feet.

"Leave this to us old man." Konata said with a smile.

Urahara opened his mouth to protest, but closed it and nodded his head. "For your information." He said as he walked away. "If you two were to die today, I would miss you. So please, try not to die."

Neri watched Urahara walk away from her hiding spot in the bushes. She clenched her hands as she watched the soldiers approach the duo. Her nails began to dig into the palms of her hands as the soldiers drew their swords. _This is insane!_ She thought to herself. _There has to be more than a hundred of them out there! How do they expect to take all of them down with just the two of them! _Despite her protests, Jiro and Konata convinced her to stay behind, seeing that she's the one they were really after. She closed her eyes and said a prayer. She had faith in them, but she said one just in case. It was better safe than sorry.

Jiro stood, facing what he knew were near impossible odds. Suddenly, he had doubts about whether this was a good idea or not. He looked to Konata, who gave him a thumbs up. He sighed. _At least she's not worried. _Jiro reassured himself. He shook his head and focused. The soldiers had finished checking on their commander and were ready to strike. _I have to stop letting Konata talk me into these things. _He thought as he lunged at them.

Jiro swung his sword. The wood connected with a soldier's nose, making a sickening crunching nose as the soldier fell. Jiro jumped over the falling soldier and swung his sword down onto the helmet of another soldier. The soldier fell to the ground as Jiro twisted in the air. He swung his foot out and jammed his heel into the back of a soldier's head. He kicked off the soldier and jumped into the air. He flipped over a group of the soldiers and was falling towards a blade pointed directly to his face. Jiro clashed his sword against the extended blade. This pushed the blade away from his head as he punched the soldier in the face. The soldier fell to the ground as Jiro landed on top of him. The soldiers watched as Jiro stood over the defeated soldier. They hesitated for a moment, and then began to charge. Jiro sighed as ran to meet his attackers.

Konata smiled as she spun through the air. She landed on the shoulders of a stunned soldier. She wrapped her legs around his neck and pulled back, slamming him into the ground. She flipped backwards onto her hands. While in the handstand she drove her feet upwards. Her feet drove into the soldier's diaphragm. The man fell back as Konata jumped on top of him. She jumped in the air and kicked both her feet out. The soldiers could not stop in time to avoid the kicks to their faces. They fell back with a hard thud, blood leaking out of their broken noses. Konata landed on the ground and spun on the balls of her feet. She extended her arms as she spun faster and faster. The soldiers standing around Konata fell to the ground as the swords repeatedly hit them. Konata stopped spinning and held up the broken handles of what used to be her swords. _Crud. _She thought to herself. _I need to be more careful with my swords._ Konata shrugged as she threw the stubs at two soldiers that were charging at her. She drove her hands into the handles, knocking the wind out of the soldiers as they fell. Konata jumped backwards. She landed on the ground, where she was immediately surrounded by a dozen soldiers. She scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. "Uh, oh. Looks like I'm in trouble now, eh?" Konata said. "Now, what could I possibly do now?" Konata jumped forwards and tackled the soldier directly in front of her. She planted an explosive on his armor, and then jumped off him, causing him to fall, and jumped towards a soldier directly across from him. She then rebounded off this soldier towards another. She kept bouncing off soldiers like this till she ended up in the middle where she started, surrounded by soldiers lying on the ground. She looked towards the other soldiers standing there, gaping at what she just did. She laughed to herself and ran towards the crowd.

Neri was in shock. She watched as Konata and Jiro individually took down soldier after soldier. Within minutes there was only half the number that was originally there. She watched them jump through the air with the agility only circus performers could have. She was awed, yet scared at how natural it seemed for them to be fighting. She could see it in their eyes. While they were wailing on the soldiers, they were enjoying themselves. She watched as the two were pushed together into the center. She held her breath and wondered how the two of them grew up.

Jiro had to admit it, these guys were stubborn. At first they had the upper-hand, but that was mainly because they caught them off guard. He counted the number remaining. _Ten…twelve… thirty. _Jiro breathed a small sigh of relief. _Well, that sure beats one-hundred._ He nudged Konata on the shoulder. "Kona-chan." She looked up. "How many more explosives do you have?"

Konata searched through her pockets. "Would ten make you happy?" Konata asked.

"Very much so."

"Good, cause that's all I got." Konata said as Jiro sighed. "You know, you should really plan these things out in advance Jiro." Konata said with a smirk. Jiro thumped her on the head with his fist.

The soldiers approached the duo slowly. They paced themselves, waiting for Jiro and Konata to let their guard down. Jiro and Konata were breathing deeply, counting the soldier's steps. Jiro closed his eyes and focused, finding the rhythm beneath their footsteps. He opened his eyes. "Konata." He said. "We charge on three." The soldiers began to approach. "One…" They held their swords in position. "Two…" The gripped their hands and ran at Konata and Jiro. "Three!" Konata ran at the soldiers. She slid between the legs of one of the soldiers, jumping up behind him. Konata threw a sharp kick to his back, knocking the soldier over as she jumped onto him. She grabbed his sword and hit him hard on the back of the head with the hilt. She swung the sword at a soldier standing next to her. The blade hit the soldier's side, but was stopped by his chainmail. The blow still knocked the wind out of him, and the sword out of Konata's hands. Konata jumped back away from the crowd. She smiled.

"Is that all you guys got?" Konata yelled, trying to rile them even further. "The army must really be getting lazy if we can kick your butts thi-" Konata stopped. Her breath caught in her throat. She coughed into her hand. Crimson blood dripped from her mouth and onto her hand. She looked down at the gash across her body. The commander they thought was immobilized was standing in front of her. His sword glistened with her blood. Konata coughed one more time as she fell backwards. Time began to slow for her as her vision blackened. She could see Jiro stop where he was and yell. His lips moved, but she could not hear what he was saying. She hit the ground, at least she thought she did. She made a cat-like grin. _Dang, I messed up._ She sighed to herself as she saw the blackness surround her.

Suddenly, her eyes were flooded by a bright light. She moved her hand to shield them. She felt the ground where she laid. The grass of the field was gone, replaced with cold hard wood. She tried to sit up, being careful not to agitate her wound too much. She was half-way up, when she noticed. She wasn't in pain. She felt there with her hand. There was no trace of the cut at all. In fact, her clothes weren't even torn. She sat up, wondering where she was now. Looking at her surroundings, she saw bookshelves fully lined with comic books. The floor was littered with stray comics, DVDs and posters. Konata cupped her hand around her mouth. She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Nooooo!" She yelled. "I died and went to heaven! But I'm not finished yet! I can't leave Jiro yet. No, no, no,no." She held her head in her hands and sat in fetal position. A sharp yell broke her out of her breakdown.

"Hey, boss! Can you keep it down please?" Konata looked up at the source of the call. It was a girl with short blue hair. She was lying backwards on a bed, hanging her head upside down over the edge reading a comic book. "I just got to the climax here."

Konata shot to her feet. She was breathing heavy now. "Who are you! Where am I? Did I die?" Konata desperately asked.

The blue-haired girl grunted. She reluctantly put her comic book down on the bed, and flipped backwards, landing on her feet back turned away from Konata. She spun around and cleared her throat. "'Kay boss. Here are the specs. First of all, don't worry you're not dead. That cut was irritating me so I patched it up for ya. Now then…" She cleared your throat. "Welcome to our world. I am Tira, your personal assistant, companion, and partner. I would like to welcome you to the inside of your mind." Tira took a small bow and raised her head. "I'm your soul. Nice to meet you boss."

* * *

**The curtains rise, the lights open all focused on... a bloodbath?**  
**Jiro: You know, he's going to die if you keep hitting him like that Neri.**

**Neri: But he deserves it! He hasn't updated in two freaking months!**

**Konata: And he almost killed me off, hit him once for me as well.**

**Author: How many times do I have to say I'm sorry before you forgive me!?**

**Neri: Hmmm, I don't know, let's find out!**

**Konata: Yeah... Well, since our author is currently incapacitated-**

**Author: Help me! HELP!**

**Konata: We'll say it for him.**

**Jiro: Please review. Each review is valued and keeps the author alive and running.**

**Konata: Assuming Neri doesn't kill him.**

**Kona&Jiro: Ja-neeee!!!**

**Neri: He's escaping! After him.**

**Jiro: For the love of...**


End file.
